answer:Anecdote: I have an iPhone 4 (as do the other ask-public employees). We all can recreate the bar issue, though I was able to on my old iPhone, too. I’m sure I wouldn’t have ever noticed if not for the hullabaloo. My iPhone 4 gets better reception than my old 3G, though Andrew says his is worse. I think it’s a pretty minor issue overall. The much bigger problem is still AT&T, which frequently drops calls with full bars. I’ll probably get a bumper case, though I don’t think it’s totally necessary.